Obama vows "we remember, we rebuild" at World Trade Center

Reuters

By Laura MacInnis

NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama andfirst lady Michelle Obama on Thursday toured the soaringskyscraper being built to replace the twin towers destroyed onSept. 11, 2001, in a poignant visit to mark a new chapter ofrecovery from the traumatic attack.

Inscribing one of the steel beams that will be part of thebuilding's framework, Obama wrote: "We remember, we rebuild, wecome back stronger!" followed by his signature.

Obama has touted the killing of Osama bin Laden, the alQaeda leader behind the attacks on the United States, as one ofhis top national security achievements and refers to it often ashe campaigns for re-election.

The president and first lady looked down on the 9/11memorial from One World Trade Center's 22nd floor, which isstill under construction, after walking beneath bare pipesilluminated by light bulbs strung from the unfinished ceiling.

"We couldn't be prouder of you guys. This is what theAmerican spirit is all about," Obama told construction workersafter a brief outdoor ceremony in the shadow of the building,which is scheduled to be completed in late 2013.

Obama visited the site last September to commemorate the10-year anniversary of the 2001 attacks by al Qaeda that killednearly 3,000 people and destroyed the landmark t w in towers.

In April, One World Trade Center surpassed the Empire StateBuilding as New York's tallest structure, with a horizontal beamlaid at a height of 1,270 feet (387 meters).

When completed, it will rise 1,776 feet (541 meters) to thetip of its antenna, taller than the World Trade Center towers.Construction began six years ago on the edifice, which wasformerly called the Freedom Tower.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called the building "asymbol of the enduring spirit of the city and state of NewYork."